Jobs: Social media-savvy young people still want to go to the office to work

Published:11:00Friday 08 July 2011

Employees in the early stages of their career prefer to work at the office to see and be seen, according to a study of 19 blue-chip companies, including Barclays, Microsoft, Tesco and Pfizer.

The study – to assess differences between the generations – was led by Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA).

AWA managing director Andrew Mawson said: “Generation Y is more ‘tech-savvy’ than older generations and they live their lives on smart-phones and networking on Facebook.

“Large organisations that deprive this group of social networking tools deprive them of a key tool for success. We predict that large companies will soon have to develop their own equivalent social sites within their own firewalls in order to recruit and maximise the value of these energetic intelligent new members of the workforce.

“But the main surprise is that a daily presence in the office is more important for less experienced, younger staff. For this group, learning the ropes, making contacts and gaining recognition are more important. As people become more established and have proven their abilities, they are more likely to support working flexibly or remotely as part of their working pattern.”

The research, among organisations that account for almost two million employees, found there was little else to distinguish the younger age-groups from the older and little or no friction between the groups.